Meet our Ponies

Introducing our Ponies at the Shiresmill Centre! They have been trained specially so that children and people with physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning difficulties and youngsters on the autistic spectrum can ride them.

All of our ponies are now available for sponsorship. Visit our Sponsor a Pony Page for more details.

HarleyBay Welsh Section C

Harley is a beautiful bay coloured pony who's 12.2 hands high and was born on 18th June 2003. As well as being very handsome and sweet natured, Harley is a real people pony. He is the first to come when you go into the field and made a close connection with Peat when he first arrived. He is quite curious and likes to know all that is happening. Also loves his food, and seems to take most things in his stride. He is very wise, knowing just where to place himself in the herd for a peaceful life!

HarryYellow Dun Highland Pony

Harry is a beautiful Yellow Dun Highland Pony. He is 14 hands high and was born in on 12th June 2005. He is a typical Highland and he does love his food, especially if it is green! Harry has competed to a high level in the past before he joined the herd in 2014. He has a very gentle nature and is well suited to his job equally at home with novice or experienced riders. Most of all he loves going on hacks and exploring.

MojoSkewbald Welsh Cross

Mojo is our latest addition to Shiresmill. He was born in 2008 and is 12 hands high. Even though he appears grey, he is actually skewbald (this is much easier to spot during the summer!). In his last home, he was a well-loved, lead rein show pony. He is settling in quickly, making friends with the other members of the herd. He is very friendly and often whinnies to say hi!

MurphyBlack Cob Cross

Murphy is our black Cob cross. Although he is mostly black, he has a large white blaze on his face and big white socks on his legs! He stands 15.1 hands high and was born in 1999, making him the oldest member of our herd! He is big and very strong (some of our volunteers refer to him as a tank!) which makes him very good at his role of weight carrier. Murphy is a fantastic RDA horse who has taken several of our riders to RDA Dressage competitions, always doing his best and making everyone at Shiresmill very proud.

ParkerPiebald Cob

Parker is a 15.2h Piebald cob who was brought to our centre through the Wooden Spoon charity. He was born in 2006. Unfortunately he didn’t have the day he was born on his passport so we decided his birthday would be 23rd November as that was the date he joined us at Shiresmill. Parker has a very kind nature and he is a great confidence giving horse. He will do exactly what his rider asks of him. Parker generally likes nothing better than a roll in the mud. He usually only rolls on one side though so when you groom him he has a clean side and a muddy side.

PeatBlack Shetland Pony

Being a Shetland Pony, Peat stands at just 8.2 hands high, but he has a big personality! He’s very hairy and has little legs but can gallop very fast. Peat was born on 10th May 1999. Peat is used for teaching volunteers who are new to ponies how to lead and groom as he is very responsive and loves to be brushed. Peat is also used to get our new riders used to being around ponies and how to care for them. He's a very clever little guy and likes to boss some of the bigger ponies around in the field, he has also learned to play football and can sometimes be seen having a game with Harry!

RioChestnut Haflinger Pony

Rio is our handsome Haflinger Pony - known by many of our volunteers as our Blonde Bombshell! He stands 14 hands high and was born on 1st February 2002. He has a great relationship with many of our riders, he always seems to know how they are feeling and loves lots of attention and cuddles from his human friends. He is definitely an extremely friendly pony who loves company and is great friends with Harley; they even share their meals!

StarGrey Dun Highland Pony

Star is the youngster of the ponies and is learning his job. His full name is Achnacone Silver Star and he was born on 2nd July 2011. He tries very hard to look after his riders and understand their needs. He is a Highland and food is very important to him so a careful watch has to be kept on his waistline. Star is quite sensitive and likes to be praised when he does things correctly. He loves a good scratch around the ears. He also loves to play with the hose if given an opportunity. He is a very friendly curious pony who doesn't find many things scary. Volunteers have covered him with various toys and waved and banged things around him without a reaction. When tacked up he becomes even more relaxed. He loves going out on hacks to explore new places with his friends and going out in the horse box brings an added bonus hay.

In Memory of Gypsy 1995 - 2017Clydesdale Cross Mare

Gypsy was our big friendly giant. She stood at 15.1 hands she was a gorgeous Piebald Clydesdale cross mare. Born in 1995, she had been with our Group for quite a few years now and loved her work. She was the leader of our herd and a mother to all the other ponies. She was a very placid, friendly pony who loved people of all sizes, and loved to be petted. She has the most beautiful eyes which were 2 different colours.

Sadly our beloved Gypsy recently passed away after suffering from severe lameness and arthritis. She had reached the grand old age of 23 and in her 11 years at Shiresmill had performed an amazing job teaching countless riders and volunteers. She was very well loved by all and will be sorely missed. We feel incredibly grateful and blessed to have had her with us at Shiresmill.

A Message from the Ponies...

We are a happy herd of 8 ponies that live and work at Shiresmill Therapy Riding Centre.

We rely on our volunteer friends for so much; in the mornings we eagerly await them coming up to our field to give us our specially prepared feeds and hay, with a good morning smile and pat! They make sure our field is safe and tidy, and that we're all looking happy and healthy.

On different days each of us are taken down to the Centre and we have a lovely grooming session with our volunteers. They clean our feet and groom our bodies and manes and check us over to make sure we're in tip-top condition.

When we're being used for rides they warm us up getting us tacked up with saddles, bridles and sometimes special equipment to suit each rider. They maintain our equipment, ensuring it's clean and in great condition for the lessons.

When our riders arrive our volunteers help them to safely mount us and then lead us, or walk alongside us to provide support and encouragement to both ourselves and our riders. We form special relationships with our riders and our volunteers; we're specially trained so that children and people with physical disabilities, medical conditions, learning difficulties and youngsters on the autistic spectrum can ride us. Our volunteers assist with our on-going training and through this we develop real connections with them.

We love working at Shiresmill and if you think you'd like to come and work with us, we'd love to meet you! Simply go to our 'Volunteer' section.